Today is St Patrick's Day,  the day to celebrate everything Irish. It's a day for "The Wearing of the Green" . And it's a day when my Irish heritage comes to the fore. I had an interesting conversation with a customer a few days ago.

He held a very strong viewpoint that after one generation in New Zealand any Irish-ness was diluted and I was just a Kiwi.  He was so adamant and forceful I was hard pressed to debate the subject with my usual clarity--I just love a good debate. 

The niggling question remains, is he right or wrong?

Has three generations in our wonderful slice of paradise diluted my strong Irish ancestry? And why do I feel ambivalent towards the English half of my heritage? Am I now just an ordinary Kiwi? Not easy questions to answer.

But I believe my original heritage hasn't so much diluted as grown to include all the other influences and, in expanding, has created the person I now am.  I have so many friends who've come from different cultural backgrounds and their friendship has opened up avenues of a rich and rewarding cultural diversity.

The reason I've retained so much more Irish-ness and not so much English-ness is I absorbed my father's heritage almost by osmosis. He shared his history with us every day of our growing up years, until it became an entrenched part of my psyche. Whereas my mother, like her family family before her, was close-lipped about her family history. 

In the latter part of my mother's life she tried to share her history with me but in a lot of ways it was too late. Which is a loss to me and to my children and their children.

But the vexing question remains. And after considerable soul searching I've come to the conclusion my customer was right.

I am very much a New Zealander, not by any means ordinary, but a unique person created from a polyglot of influences.  

6.4.10

It's been a busy few weeks for me. What with family, business and writing commitments the days seem to have gone by on wings.

    One of my sisters has had to have a knee replacement and is not having an easy time of it. Watching her struggle has made me far more aware of taking care of my own creaky joints. Now that autumn is truly upon us, the leaves are very colorful, and the clocks have gone back, the evenings are drawing in, any aches and pains seem to multiply.

   I've inherited her two chihuahuas for several weeks and they are such cute little dogs. But out of their home milieu they've been indulging in a few pecking order fights. I didn't realize that tiny as they are, the little mutts can fight every bit as fiercely as bigger dogs. I've had to step in and settle a couple of arguments. Who said dogs are like children? Too true. 

   We had a lovely impromptu family gathering when our eldest grandchild recently married. In romance novels we read where hero and heroine decide to marry within a few days and the mad scramble that occurs to make a wedding happen.

    So it was really a huge amount of fun to watch a spontaneous wedding happen in real life.

    The groom arrived with the bride, very pregnant with twins, and carrying the milk for the cup of tea afterwards. Very different! And you'd better believe I have a photo of that!

    After the ceremony, Gran and Pop did the grandparently thing and took the whole wedding party out for lunch. It was a bit ticklish to settle on a venue that would welcome a party of twelve without a booking. An added problem was we weren't in our city so were not sure what venues were available.

    We settled on a venue that provided a great smorgasbord and with a little extra finagling we also produced a wedding cake. A  layered chocolate mousse cake that was so yummy.

    Afterwards we all walked through the fantastic Hamilton Gardens. I've read several articles about these gardens with their international themes but it's my first visit. I aim to go back for a more leisurely stroll. I'll never lose my passion for gardens and gardening. The day I cease to be able to garden is the day I'll cease to exist.

    All in all a lovely day...and what fabulous fodder for a romance writer. 

22.5.10

Time: the commodity that's in such short supply. The older we get the faster it speeds by.

Our family is growing by leaps and bounds. Our eldest grandchild is now the proud daddy of twin girls.

Charlotte and Elizabeth --- lovely old fashioned names.  As one great-grand-aunt commented "real names".

I often wonder when I see and meet children with outlandish names how those youngsters are going to  feel about their wacky names when they are old enough to resent being teased and tormented by their peers.  In my fairly long life I've found children to be really cruel little creatures.

It is great to see all the really old fashioned names being given to the current generation. Thomas, Cameron, Finn, Sophie, Holly, Jacob and Jodie and Joey feature in the current crop of family babies and toddlers.

My writing has had to take a little bit of a back seat as family commitments have been piling up. Two of my sisters as well as our son in law can't drive after surgery so we've had to ferry them back and forth to their hospital appointments. With running the shop it makes for a rather complicated schedule.

Not that I mind. When we needed help my family was there to help and support us through some pretty grim and tough times. And I'm only too happy to give help and support now when it is needed.

As the saying goes, "What goes around comes around."

22.7 10

A red letter day for me.

One of my manuscripts is a finalist in the 2010 Clendon Award a second manuscript was Commended.

The final places will be decided my Mary Theresa Hussey, Senior executive editor Silhouette Books New York. Now me, and the other six finalists, have all our toes and fingers crossed.

This Award, also known as "Finish The Damn Book" was inaugurated by Barbara and Peter Clendon of Barbara's Books in Manukau City, Auckland New Zealand,  to encourage fledging writers to actually finish a manuscript.

The competition is judged by a panel of dedicated romance readers

Peter and Barbara support RWNZ writers because they know there is an enormous depth of talent in the group. They felt a need to 

foster that talent.

Many of our published writers have honed their craft by entering this prestigious competition. 

And to quote Barbara:  "Many of our readers really, really want to be able to buy the Clendon Award stories they've read, and have great reluctance sending them back for other readers."

What more of an accolade can a writer receive?

Knowing you have a satisfied reader and them wanting to add your book to their keeper shelf... Great praise indeed and such an encouragement.

Writing is such a lonely task...but the rewards when they come are incredibly sweet.

And I am incredibly grateful to Barbara and Peter for giving me and other fledgling writers the chance to shine.